The Melon» Electric Elliot

The Sweet-Spot Presents: Jocelyn Skillman

Electric Elliot — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:00:32 +0000

Artist’s Statement:

I am fascinated by the encounter of consciousness embodied–that is to say, the existential platform of self encountering otherness. I am also enchanted by the exploration of “reality” as an embodied relationship between finitude and the transcendental.

My visual art depicts monsters and suffering as a metaphor for the state of despair and suffering that Self encounters as Separated Consciousness (e.g. arising into a body/Separation from Source). Thus, my art also seeks to explore the embodied point of contact between that state of despair/separation and the state of reconciliation: Enlightenment, the Kingdom of God, Relationship to Unconditional Love.

I feel called to producing visual images because they seem to convey deep and subtle relationships–e.g. between objects that are involved in suffering and freedom or relief from that suffering. My spiritual “work” usually evolves into the imagery I am drawing, and I will find myself in agreement with a principle that appears in the work: of reconciliation or aspects of despair, separation, or transcendent love. Teachers and traditions that have been fundamental to the development of my thought and art are Buddhist Foundations: Chogyam Trungpa, Shunryu Suzuki, Christian Foundations: Soren Keirkegaard, Thomas Merton, Other: Hafiz and other Sufi voices, Martin Buber, Early Indian theology, and my Friends!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocelynskillman/

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whizARTbang #1

Electric Elliot — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:00:50 +0000

On July 3rd, a plethora of artists gathered at the Satori Group’s loft in downtown Seattle for a new collaborative event called whizARTbang! What is it? whizARTbang is a new collective of artists and supporters. It hopes to connect, collaborate, and support art in any way it can.

Each month, members host an intimate gathering featuring culinary art, visual art, live performances, and libations. The Melon was on hand for July’s gathering which featured a sampling of work from: Culinary arts, Painting, Stand-up, Dance, Video Art, Experimental Theater, and Sketch Comedy. Here’s our footage from the event which featured The Melon’s own Electric Elliot:

Artists included:

-Zoe Scofield
-Derek Shankland and Mike Klotz
-Stephen Ross
-Emmett Montgomery
-Jason Miller
-Juniper Shuey
-Boom! Theater
-Kevin Kantner (not to be confused with Kevin kantor)
-Counsel Langley
-Harlequin Hipsters
-Elliot Trotter

http://vimeo.com/13289890

Fice’s Two Five Three Hits Home

Electric Elliot — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 02:37:41 +0000

The Melon just got wind of a great new music video from Fice, a T-Loc hip hop artist. The video for the song “Two Five Three” features a some shots and props to a lot of great locations (hello MSM deli) and captures the proud spirit of Tacoma well. Look for Fice’s song to become Tacoma’s new unofficial anthem. Take a listen.

The New Face of BP

Electric Elliot — Mon, 31 May 2010 00:57:41 +0000

In response to the current oil spill disaster in the Gulf, Green Peace has developed a design competition charging participants to redesign BP’s logo to better reflect their image. Here are some of my favorites.

Interview with Tacoma Poet Laureate Tammy Robacker

Electric Elliot — Mon, 10 May 2010 16:00:35 +0000

Just weeks after being announced Tacoma’s 3rd Poet Laureate at Poetry in the 253, Tammy Robacker joined Electric Elliot in the Melon studio to chat about her wonderful achievement, her plans as Poet Laureate and to learn more about Tammy Robacker the poet.

Completely unique from our previous Poet Laureates, Tammy’s work delicately develops clear moving pictures and presses the reader to make those images dance. The focus on craft and development is evident in the art of a focused and experienced poet. Take a listen to our interview to learn more and hear Tammy read a couple pieces from her book The Vicissitudes.

Download audio file (TammyRobackerFINAL.mp3)
Download mp3

Note: There are some unfortunate audio glitches towards the end of the recording…

Mouth & Mics: Poetry in the 253 (Full Event Video)

Electric Elliot — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:00:09 +0000

On Saturday, April 28th, in celebration of National Poetry Month, the Washington State History Museum hosted Mouths & Mics: Poetry in the 253, a collaborative event featuring 7 talented Tacoma poets and an abundance of local artists and musicians. Hosted by Antonio Edwards, Poetry in the 253 took art form to new heights, as Tacoma poets enhanced their timeless pieces using visual imagery, theater, dance, lighting and music.

Featuring performances by: Kiah lee, Emilie Rommel Shimkus, Elliot Trotter, Josh Rizeberg, Ariel Zimmer, Korama Williams, Zeek Green, Antonio Edwards, Colin Cronin, Mark Monlux, Lee Sledd, Tammy Robacker and more, Poetry in the 253, kicked ass. Everyone brought something fantastic to the equation and all of collaborations were out of sight. Anyone who missed out on seeing this live really missed out.

The evening was capped with the passing of the poetic torch to the 2010 Urban Grace Soul of the City Tacoma Poet Laureate Tammy Robacker.

The Melon was on site to film and document this awesome occasion. Thanks to Antonio Edwards for his work making this happen and Adam the Alien for his photography work.

Tacoma’s $2000 Puma Album Released!

Electric Elliot — Sat, 01 May 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Born on the campus of the University of Puget Sound, $2000 Puma has just released their freshman album “Last Night’s Kill”, streaming free on bandcamp. Sometimes loud and angry, but often solemn and ponderous, “LNK” presents a young band unabashed about what it is and the type of music it intends to play.

Having seen Puma live, “LNK” captures the same energies and careful releases of beautiful emotion that beam off the stage. Polished or not, Puma’s “LNK” is raw and real, just the type of release we’d expect from the creative-core of area 253.

Helmed by Greg Merrell on vocals, guitar and numerous other instruments, the band features other UPS talents in Jake Berenbeim, Mark Maples, Sean Bernfeld and Charlie Bevis.

In the band’s own words:

$2,000 Puma is homemade eclectic electric indie rock music that will leave your temples drenched in sweat. Drawing from a variety of sounds, they have never stuck to a single genre. However, there is one commonality between their songs- they all rock hard. Their music is composed of spacey then rocking-effect-tripped-out-noisy guitar, groovy-jazzy-funky bass, explosively intricate jazzy and rocking drums, vocals with occasional vibrato application and the over-layering of synthesizer and simple guitar melodies. It pulls elements from Jazz, Blues, Math-Rock, Dub, Glitchier Electronic, Folk, and just straight up rock and roll. Like many talented artists $2,000 Puma doesn’t restrict their music to a particular meter. Syncopated rhythms are a common thread in $2,000 Puma songs such as “The Seasons”, “Ultraviolet”, “Money/Love Problems”, and “Paladin-Drome”.

Although their album has just released, rumor has it that Puma is already no more. With band members no longer students at UPS, they are looking to go their separate ways. I had a quick Q & A exchange with Greg Merrell about the band, the album and the future:

The Melon: How was the band formed?

Greg Merrell: Jake and I got really angry and frustrated with Organic Chemistry and needed to vent somehow. We did so by playing really LOUD rock music. Then eventually started writing songs, playing with other people, and played our first “show” at a house party in January of ‘08.

What goes into a song/ How does one come about?

Well it really depends on the song…

As far as songwriting processes go, I would say a majority of songs come from my initial rough ideas and I put them into a loose structure. Then, Jake and I will play through them with Mark or Mark and Sean and they’ll come up with some finer details to add to the song. This was the case for these songs on the album – Vitamin R, Hummingbird, Vose & Sons, Miscreation, and You’re a Slave, You’re a Stone. Some songs have just come out of jam sessions and then were refined later like – Wake Up Call and Blues. McNulty and Pulse are both tracks that I purely did and Jake just added some percussion texture (Lion’s Roar).

Pulse actually has a pretty interesting story as to its origin. The original idea of that song came from Elliott Snyder noodling around on a guitar and I was sampling what he was playing through a kaoss pad. Then I subdivided that sample into an 11/4 (A) beat and a 4/4 (B) beat and the song alternates sections using those respective drum patterns. Then laid down a bass and vocal track. You can listen to that track on our muxtape, its called Sleep Serene. Then later Jake and I recreated that song to perform live and it turned into a different song. We tried to record that version of the song and it didn’t really work out… so we took samples of that take and made it into an interlude.

It’s really interesting when you go to record these songs though because they take a bit of a new form (like I was explaining for Pulse). Vose & Sons was a song that was just recorded as it was written.

What is the future of Puma?

Well… unfortunately the puma is done but I’m sure we’ll play in other projects as time goes on. Jake and I have an agreement that if we ever happen to be in the same city or near by we’ll play music together again.

Sean and I currently play in a project called Redolent Entropy (redolententropy.muxtape.com/) with Nico Sophiea and Colin Taggart. I’ll always be working on recording projects with a friend of mine Greg Harpel who lives in Portland called Mellowtron and the Harp (mellowtron.muxtape.com/).

Any other projects on the horizon?

Not really. Marks going to Taiwan, Sean to St. Louis, Jake to Denver, and I’m heading off to Shanghai, China.

What’s the goal of this album? – take that one as you will.

The goal of our music has always been to express ourselves as musicians and as people. To bare our souls if you will. I think that’s definitely the goal of this album and I feel like it’s been accomplished.

Artists you compare Puma to?

Heh… that’s an interesting turn on the infamous “influences” question. I would just compare aspects of songs of ours to artists. The last song = Radiohead. Miscreation = Grizzly Bear meets Elliot Smith. Blues = Kusikia meets Black Keys meets some doom metal band. Hummingbird = Mice Parade meets Beruit meets The Globes – a Seattle band (specifically the track “The Glower”). Vose & Sons = some Jim O’Rourke instrumental. Its hard for me to think of some artists that Wake Up Call, Vitamin R and McNulty remind me of though…

Define $2,000 Puma in 3 words.

Pacific Northwest Rock.

Check out Puma’s full album @ http://2000puma.bandcamp.com/

Poetry in the 253

Electric Elliot — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 15:00:47 +0000

Here ye! Here ye! Announcing the biggest Poetry event to ever grace the City of Destiny. On Saturday, April 24th at 7pm, in celebration of National Poetry Month, 7 fantastic poets will take the stage at the Washington State History Museum to present poetry in a new light.

This event will take the art form to new heights as Tacoma poets enhance their timeless pieces using visual imagery, theater, dance, lighting and music. Mark your calendars for what is sure to be an historical event as the poetic torch is passed to the 2010 Urban Grace Soul of the City Tacoma Poet Laureate.

Included in this bunch are current Poet Laureate Antonio Edwards, and The Melon’s own Electric Elliot.

Tickets for the event are $7 a seat, but will be a slim price to pay for what is in store.

Melon Visual Presents: Instrumental Analysis

Electric Elliot — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:00:13 +0000

Dispute Resolution Center 2010 Training Dates

Electric Elliot — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:31:17 +0000

Just received an email from the Pierce County Center for Dispute Resolution about Basic Mediation Training.

PCCDR is having basic mediation training again this year. The upcoming dates are July 12-16 and October 15-17, 29-30, 2010. For both dates the hours are 8:30 am-5:30pm.

For those wondering what that’s about: